In colonial days, when
manufacturing was strictly forbidden in America, and all such work had
to be kept strictly under cover and their products
"bootlegged," work on the Quincy quarries (then in the limits
of Braintree) was under the same handicap. Granite bars with ruts cut in
them were laid end-to-end to make a special wagon trail which could be
easily covered up and hidden from sight though easily followed by wagons
fitting the tracks, and connected the quarries with Braintree and with
the Neponset River. These may be considered the first railroad tracks in
existence. The ban on such industry was one of the important issues over which
the Revolution started. After independence, the need for concealment was over, and the granite rails in Braintree fell into
disuse for a while, though there were several attempts to revive the
road as some sort of turnpike or toll-road. In 1820, when the
introduction of steam trains was being considered in this country, the
"Granite Railroad" was among the first to be turned to that
use―again for its original purpose of hauling granite from the
quarries. Before long, it became necessary to plan on extending this
line in to Boston itself. This became possible when the Old Colony Railroad―connecting Boston with points south . . . started
construction, leased the Granite Railroad, and connected the latter with
its own lines along the south side of the Neponset River. Thus the
Granite line . . . later converted into iron rails . . . was brought into Boston across
Dorchester and by a bridge built from Dorchester Neck (now
South Boston) over Fort Point Channel into town. The Boston
Terminal of this line was on Kneeland Street; on annex, separated from the main depot by
an alley which is now port of
Atlantic Avenue, handled just the train service running down
to Fall River to connect with the old Fall River Line boats to
New York. It was from this annex depot that the Boston
regiment started in 1861 that was the first to go down South
in the Civil War, that got into the first fight of that war at
Baltimore, and that held Washington alone for many weeks. The
main Old Colony depot was abandoned when South Station was built. The old annex has been
incorporated into the new station, as the express building.

*

There are 7287 streets in Greater New York,
And over 18,000 in Greater Boston.

*

Fairy tales are full of the favorite plot of the hero who
spends a lifetime of adventure wandering over the earth to
find his lost one in some distant magical land whose
whereabouts are never told. An Irish ballad was once more
specific. It said:

"He sailed east, he sailed west,
And far and wide sailed he,
Until he come to Boston town
Across the great salt sea."